Research in Animal Behavior & Cognition

Welcome

Humans sometimes make economic decisions that go against their own self interests. Why, for example, do people gamble when everyone knows they are going to lose money? In my research, I look for the evolutionary origins of these decision-making biases. It may be that these patterns of behavior were useful in our evolutionary past. In order to explore these types of issues, I research decision-making in nonhuman primates. I am particularly interested in how decision-making processes are influenced by the social dynamics within groups.